Today I’m going to talk to you about visualisation for freediving, which for some could be very important if they come across troubles with technique. As we all know, relaxation plays a vital role in freediving so perfecting technique is required before we move on to deep states of relaxation.

There are different forms of visualisation and they can be very useful for anybody with goals meaning that it is not limited to only freediving.

You can use visualisation to help you with your actual diving, example basic techniques, mental preparation and long term goals.

What we are going to talk about today is dive automation, meaning the automatic control you have over your body during a dive. Achieving automation will eventually lead to very peaceful and relaxed dives. Here at Deep Med we cannot stress how important it is to continue your practice and focus on your weak points. Once you have mastered technique, relaxation will become deeper and easier for you to achieve.

The first step is to make a list, and in the list you will incorporate each aspect of your dive plus the part of your dive which you need to consciously think about or decide to alter.

For example, we want to improve on our duck dive. Make sure to write a detailed list step by step:

1. Always remember the momentum from the duck dive begins with a forward motion by a simple FLUTTER KICK.2 Remove snorkel3 Remember to pre-equalise your ears4 Point arms downwards (they will ultimately determine the direction of the duck dive)5 Bend from the hips and keep legs straight6 Lift your legs together vertically7 Pull downwards with your arms and immediately equalise

Once you have finished your list, read over time and time again until it’s engrained in your memory.

To begin visualisation

Lie down in a comfortable position and begin to relax with your eyes closed. Breathing deep and slow. Take your time, there is no rush. Once you are in a nice relaxed state it’s onto the next step:

Imagine yourself breathing up on the surface of the water – making sure you also go into detail with this part of the visualisation. Perfecting the duck dive is one of your goals for the season; yet you still remain relaxed and calm, it’s ok if it doesn’t work out in the beginning.

At the same time, start to visualise the duck-dive in great detail and go over that list you created. Make sure to go through it at the speed of the actual duck-dive.

When you have finished the dive, make sure to feel the feeling of accomplishment after having finished your goal!

You are able to repeat the visualisation two-three times a day. Start off once a day and slowly build up to two – three times. Visualisation will enable your body to act accordingly and set your dive automation in check